Two condoms from 1944 washed ashore from a shipwreck in northern Norway

A wallet containing two condoms and tobacco ration cards washed ashore after many years at sea. It belonged to an unknown German soldier who served aboard the battleship Tirpitz during World War II.

"It was probably common to hand out condoms. They didn't want soldiers with sexually transmitted diseases. It was a form of preventive care to keep the soldiers fit for combat," says Sten Helge Eilertsen, deputy director of the Tromsø Defence Museum.

'The beast' stationed in Norway

Tirpitz was the largest warship ever built in Germany. She entered service in February 1941 and arrived in Norway one year later.

"The crew was carefully selected. They lived comfortably aboard the enormous ship, which even had its own bakery, post office, and brass band," says Steinar Grønnås, chairman of the museum.

Tirpitz was one of Hitler’s greatest sources of pride during the Second World War, according to Grønnås. The ship was seen as a major threat in the North Atlantic. 

Prime Minister Winston Churchill called it 'The Beast.'

Churchill was forced to commit a large portion of the British fleet to protecting the convoys carrying supplies to Russia, fearing that Tirpitz would attack.

For that reason, destroying or disabling Tirpitz became the top priority of the Allied navy, according to Grønnås. 

"Tirpitz was so feared that Allied warships avoided her. The battleship tried to engage in combat, but it never happened," says Eilertsen.

Abandoned convoy escort out of fear of Tirpitz

In June 1942, 34 ships sailed from Iceland loaded with aircraft, tanks, cars, and ammunition. They were headed for Arkhangelsk to deliver military supplies to the Soviet Union for the fighting on the Eastern Front. The journey was expected to take 12 days. 9 British warships and 18 aircraft accompanied them.

German submarines and aircraft followed them as well. They attacked after only a few days.

The British received word that Tirpitz had left Alta and was heading towards the convoy. Unwilling to risk losing their own warships, they ordered the escorting vessels to leave the convoy.

The 34 ships were left as easy targets for German torpedoes. Only 11 reached Arkhangelsk.

Tirpitz, however, never actually sailed towards the convoy. 

The 2023 film The Arctic Convoy is based on this event.

She had to be sunk

"It became absolutely necessary for the British to sink Tirpitz so they could free up their own ships for battles farther south. As long as Tirpitz remained afloat, they had to keep their fleet in the north," Grønnås explains.

They tried many times – using mini-submarines, torpedoes, and fighter aircraft.

"More than 35 attacks were carried out against Tirpitz involving over 750 aircraft," says Grønnås.

The battleship was damaged but stayed afloat. Tirpitz sailed to Håkøya near Tromsø in northern Norway, where she was to be repaired and serve as a floating fortress against the Russians advancing from the north and Allied ships approaching from the west.

Sank in 11 minutes

On 12 November 1944, 32 British aircraft passed through Swedish airspace to Tromsø. Each carried a five-tonne bomb known as a Tallboy.

"The bombs were specially designed to penetrate the thick armour of Tirpitz," says Grønnås.

Two of the bombs hit their target.

"But it was actually the bombs that missed which actually sank the Tirpitz. The ship was anchored close to shore, and sand had been piled up along one side to stabilise it. The bombs that exploded right next to the hull blasted away the sand and water, creating a vacuum beneath the ship," Eilertsen explains.

The keel broke, and the ship sank in 11 minutes.

971 men were killed in the attack. The museum does not know whether the soldier who owned the wallet died or was among the 900 who managed to swim ashore. 

Now a burial site for German soldiers

"The Germans called Tirpitz the unsinkable ship, so they kept news of its sinking secret in Germany. The loss of Tirpitz could have damaged morale. The soldiers who survived were reassigned," says Eilertsen.

The men who died were buried in a grave at the top of Tromsøya, an island in Tromsø.

"It wasn't until the 1970s, when the area was being developed and workers came across thigh bones and skulls, that they were exhumed and moved to the German war cemetery at Botn," Eilertsen says.

Around 400 of the dead still lie within the wreck.

"People are allowed to dive to the wreck, but because of the human remains, you're not permitted to remove anything from it," he says.

Items stolen for reuse

The wreck of the Tirpitz was in relatively shallow water. Engineers and technicians came from Germany to salvage its components. A German guard vessel kept watch.

"Every Friday the guard vessel sailed into Tromsø to take on supplies. That was when local Norwegians rowed out to collect whatever they could. My uncle lived on the nearest farm and brought back quite a lot," says Grønnås.

Many objects and materials from the Tirpitz were reused or ended up in private collections. Blocks made of steel and wood were produced and sold as souvenirs.

"An elderly lady donated a curtain pelmet that her husband had made from teak deck planks from the Tirpitz," says Eilertsen.

Years of dismantling

After the war, the wreck of the Tirpitz was sold to the company Høvding Skipsopphugging. They spent seven years dismantling most of the ship.

Everything that was recovered was to be reused. Armour steel from the ship ended up in places such as the streets of Oslo, bridges, and railway crossings.

Tromsø Defence Museum is located at the former German southern coastal fort, just outside Tromsø. The museum was established in 1993 as a collection. Grønnås took over as director three years ago, when they began registering and documenting the provenance of the objects – their place of discovery, ownership history, and origin.

"Today we work according to the same standards as other museums, although everything is done by volunteers and funded through project grants," says Grønnås.

Must be certain of the provenance

It is painstaking work.

"Even if your father told you that this object came from the Tirpitz, we as a museum cannot confirm that without photographs or other evidence proving its provenance," says Grønnås.

Some of the museum’s objects were recovered in 1945, while others remained underwater until they washed ashore in the years after the war.

Like the wallet – it is discoloured and brittle after years underwater.

"We are waiting for a conservator who can examine it properly," says Grønnås.

Former enemies meet again

Aircraft parts and artefacts from the Lancaster bombers have also found a place in the museum.

On the 50th anniversary of the sinking, the museum organised a gathering for survivors from both sides.

"Germans and Brits met and shook hands," Grønnås recalls.

Children and grandchildren of the survivors continue to visit the museum. Every five years, the museum also organises a boat trip out to the wreck, where wreaths and flowers are laid in remembrance.

At the 75th anniversary, two former Tirpitz crew members and one from the Lancaster crew were still alive. By last year's 80th anniversary, they had all passed away.

"Relatives came from as far away as New Zealand and Canada. It shows just how much this still means to people," says Eilertsen.

———

Translated by Alette Bjordal Gjellesvik

Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no

References:

Tromsø Defence Museum, the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia, Norgeshistorie.no, and lokalhistoriewiki.no. 

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